o Archives contain 79 Newsletters (1900 pages-hundreds of
articles), 3 definitive Burgenland Genealogy magazine
articles, History of Croatians in the Burgenland and many
village histories.

o ALL DATA IS BURGENLAND RELATED!

o All this is brought to you by 14 BB staff volunteers.

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membership lists. Staff and web site addresses are listed at the end of
newsletter section "B". Articles with no by-line are written by the editor.
This first section of the 3 section newsletter contains member email
concerning More on Slovenia, More on Sending Money to Austria, Finding
Marriage Records, Reading Hungarian Entries, Rauchwart Name, Rehling Records
(contains allied names and mentions availability of LDS records in Vienna).

As to the creation of Slovenia after WW II, as part of new Yugoslavia, I
believe several aspects could be added, though first of all, I am happy about
the result of the correspondence. There was this "windische" part of Vas
county, south of Neuhaus am Klausenbach and Felsöszölnök. Some ethnic
Germans also lived there. My greatgrandfather Alois Koller, a teacher born
in Rechnitz, had his first assignment as teacher in Eberau, the next in
Schauka (later called Eisenberg an der Pinka), then Moschendorf, followed by
a longer stay in Felsörönök, from where he went to Kismáriahavas, which was
Füchselsdorf in German, and is now called Fiksinci in Slovenia. As you can
see, his career spanned locations that later became Austria, or stayed in
Hungary, or became Slovenia/Yugoslavia, i.e., the whole gamut of Vas as it
was divided up after WW II.

After the breakup of the Monarchy, he and my greatgrandmother stayed
for a while with my grandparents in Rauchwart, but then moved to Szombathely,
probably because of their pension, where they both died.

Not only is this Slovenian corner of old Vas county legit territory
for the BB, I even believe we should include the small area following in the
southeast of it (Cakovec), in the triangle between the Mur and Drau rivers,
which belonged to old Zala county and is now part of Croatia.

The later Slovenian part of Vas did not border Carniola/Krain! It
bordered the then much larger Styria. Styria had a "windisch" part in its
south called Untersteiermark, or Lower Styria, around the main towns of
Marburg, Pettau and Cilli, with the Drau river in its middle and extending
down south to the Save river. Today, the Mur river forms part of the border
between Styria and Slovenia. When Slovenia emerged after WW II, it also
included a small part of southeastern Carinthia (at the Drau river), and
possibly parts of what was called the Coastland (around Trieste). Therefore,
Krain or Carniola formed only the core part of new Slovenia, including its
capital of Ljubljana, but several other pieces came from other counties and
provinces, including the southwestern corner of Vas county.

"Wenden" is a German term used to describe Slavs. The adjective form
is "wendisch" or "windisch." The Hungarian used the name "Tóth" to describe
Slavs like Slovenians and Slovaks. As far as I know, Slovenians don't
appreciate the designation as Windische, and of their language as "windisch"
by the Austrians. However, there is no question that this is a term with a
history and a historical significance, based on an old German term to
describe Slavs.

MORE ON SENDING MONEY TO AUSTRIA (from A. Marmorstein)

Previous issue mentioned : "Ruesch International (700 Eleventh St.,
Washington, DC 20001, telephone 800-424-2923) is available for checks drawn
on foreign banks in national currency and their fees are low."

Ruesch has an office in New York City too, and their fees used to be low!
However about a year ago they raised the fee for bank checks from $5 to
$15... effectively making them unsuitable to those sending small to medium
amounts of money.

FINDING MARRIAGE RECORDS (from Gerry Stifter)

I want you to know how much we appreciate the Burgenland Bunch newsletter.
It's a valuable link to other descendants of Burgenlanders. We have also
participated in the BB picnic in Minneapolis every year and found this to be
a great networking opportunity.

You may already be aware of this (tip) regarding marriage banns in the
Catholic Church. If readers can't locate their ancestors' villages in
Burgenland, tell them to try early church marriage records of their ancestors
in this country. We have found that church marriage records in the 1870 to
1880s sometimes have notations that the marriage banns were not only posted
in the church they attended in the US, but also were posted in their parish
in Burgenland. Usually it will name the church and the diocese in which it
was located. If they are lucky, this could be the bridge over the ocean. They
need to look carefully for this as it is usually an annotation and invariably
in Latin.

My wife and I are planning on spending some time in Burgenland this October.
We are currently looking at staying in a "Farm Holiday" in Burgenland. The
website www.tiscover.com has a great deal of information about these
farmhouse accomodations. I originally read about it in the BB Newsletter and
have accessed it many times. Keep up the good work. Gerry Stifter, Winsted,
Minnesota

READING HUNGARIAN ENTIRES (Albert Schuch to )

Pat asks: << I found this entry for Maria, but I don't understand if she is a
Flamisch or not. Would you please explain. >>

Albert answers: Dear Pat, Nice to see that you are making progress. Yes, she
is a Flamisch. The entry reads "Mária szül. Flamisch néhai Púschel (Páschel?)
György Kukméri [...] özvegye"

"szül." is Hungarian for "nee"; "néhai" for "of the late"; "özvegye" for
"widow";

So we have Maria nee Flamisch, widow of the late George Puschel (Paschel?)
from Kukmirn.

RAUCHWART NAME (Albert Schuch to Firmus J Opitz)

Albert wrties: Dear Firmus, I will post your inquiry on the OZ website later
this day and will also forward it to the editor for publishing in the printed
edition (will let you know when I see it in print).

You ask: << In regards to the village of Rauchwart (smoke watchtower), is it
possible that some of my relatives were born in this city, their names being
Rauchwarter?? >>

Answer: Of course the name Rauchwarter is probably derived from a place
called Rauchwart. The meaning of Rauchwart is indeed "smoke watchtower", and
the word dates back to the times when people lived in constant fear of
Turkish or Hungarian rebel (Hungarians not loyal to the Hapsburg King)
attacks from the east. Smoke rising from the watchtowers was used to warn the
local population in case of the arrival of hostile troops.

But if your relatives from Apetlon are named after a village called
Rauchwart, then it is not very likely to be Rauchwart in southern Burgenland.
Note that there is also a Rauchwart or Rauchenwart in Lower Austria,
somewhere south of Vienna, much closer to Apetlon.

(Ed. Note: -As Albert states, a chain of watchtowers and castles from the
extreme southern and eastern borders northward to Vienna held signal fires
which could be lit if enemy forces were sighted. By lighting these fires,
smoke and/or beacons of resulting light could notify all points of impending
attack. I've read where such notice could be flashed from Güssing to Vienna
very quickly.)

[Editor's comment: Members may wonder why we so often publish data concerning
Burgenland village schoolteachers. The answer lies in the fact that these
individuals were (and often still are) part of the village "leader" triad of
"Priest" (Pastor), "Richter" (Bürgermeister-Mayor) and "Lehrer"
(Schoolteacher). The priest and schoolteacher were often the better educated
members of the village and frequently wrote village histories, newspaper
articles and kept village records other than those of municipal importance.
Some also served as notaries. They were usually bilingual, frequently
trilingual. In the case of schoolteachers, they often intermarried with
village families and thus had a vested interest in advancing village
interests as well as preserving heritage. I'm very pleased that we can bring
you this type of data, another important source of family history. This
particular thread is an excellent study.]

Fritz writes: This is the message which started the string of messages with
Herbert Rehling. Best regards from Budapest,

To: , cc: ,

Subject: Lehrer mit Namen Rehling
Dear Herbert Rehling, Please excuse the use of English, but it is for the
benefit of Gerry whom I copy for his interest. I am on a three weeks
business stay in Budapest. Last Saturday, I visited the Széchényi Library
and looked through the issues of the newspaper Ungarische Volksschule which
was published in 1879 and 1880 under the stewardship of Prof. Johann
Ebenspanger of Oberschützen. I found mention of teachers with the name
Rehling. I am not sure how many different individuals are involved.

September 6, 1879, p. 207. Reports on the final examinations of a
course in Oberschützen for teachers, subject Hungarian language, held on
August 21. One of the participants who passed the examination was a "Rehling"
from Tarcsa.

September 20, 1879, p. 239. Joh. Rehling gets transferred as teacher to
Rába Szentmárton (Sankt Martin an der Raab). The same Johann Rehling is also
mentioned in the issue of the newspaper of June 5, 1880, p. 366, as a guest
in the meeting of the teacher association, branch of Güssing-Szent Gotthárd.

[This message has some personal interest for me as well, as my
gggrandfather Anton Fürsatz became the rom.-cath. teacher of Miedlingsdorf in
about 1879, I believe. This could mean that he followed in the steps of this
Johann Rehling.]

February 28, 1880 [forgot to note the page]. Reports on the meeting of
the teacher association, Oberwart branch, on February 9. In the discussion,
the teacher Rehling takes the floor to speak about the introduction of
Hungarian as the language of instruction in schools. It is mentioned that he
would also perform a practical reading sample presentation at the next
meeting of the association to be held in Grosspetersdorf on March 3.

March 3, 1880, p. 190-191. Report on the meeting of the teacher
association, branch Oberwart, held in Grosspetersdorf. Rehling gave the
announced reading presentation in the subject of Heimatkunde (home country
knowledge). [This implies that this teacher Rehling had his post in
Grosspetersdorf.]

Albert then writes: Below I am enclosing some additional information I
found in my files about Samuel Rehling and other Rehlings. I am a bit short
of time so I didn't translate into English. (Ed.Note-readers please give it a
try-not at all difficult). As for Samuel Rehling, the new info is that his
wife died in 1890 (at the age of 26), and that a daughter Anna died in
infancy or at an early age. Anna and Friedrich (the Professor in Budapest who
died in 1927) probably were the only children of Samuel Rehling.

One of the Rehling teachers you mentioned must have been Samuel Rehling, born
22 May 1858 in Tatzmannsdorf (parents: Johann Rehling, farmer, and Marie
Graf) who graduated in Oberschützen in 1876 [?] and immediately became
teacher in (the Lutheran school of) Grosspetersdorf. He retired in 1923, died
7 April 1932. His son Friedrich Rehling had already died in Budapest 26 Dec
1927 at the age of 40. He had been professor for mathematics and physics at
the "Budapester höhere Handelsschule" for 15 years.

TO ALL OF WHICH HERB REHLING REPLIES:
Dear Fritz Königshofer, thank you so much, sure this is of interset for me. I
will check the different Rehling teachers and compare to my entries. I am
sure you can answer the following question:

How do we get access (from here = Burgenland, Austria) to the LDS records
concerning former Austria-Hungary, i.e. Lutheran or RC entries, you mention
in your letters sometimes?

Fritz answers:

Thanks for your reply and the invitation, and also thanks for Albert's
further information on the Rehling teacher dynasty (at least it starts to
look like one). I much hope to visit southern Burgenland and stop in Bad
Tatzmannsdorf to see you. I am from Graz and visit Austria often. I feel a
bit awkward using English in the communications with you, but will do it as
long as I feel Gerry might be interested in the content.

On your question, I believe BB member Klaus Gerger (of Güssing, now in
Vienna) has good experience in getting hold of LDS microfilms in Austria.
Please try to contact him (the e-m address I have with me for him is
, as cc-ed above). However, there may be no LDS library near Bad
Tatzmannsdorf, but I obviously don't know. LDS has microfilms of the
matrikels of Hungary, and of the area of the Burgenland to the extent of the
so-called duplicates which had to be prepared for the dioceses, starting in
1826/1827/1828; in the area of southern Burgenland typically from 1828 till
September 1895. They also have duplicates of the civil records of the
Burgenland covering the time from October 1895 till all of 1920. However,
the civil duplicates from 1908 onwards contain much less information than the
previous ones.

Albert has also looked into the question of ordering LDS microfilms for
viewing in Vienna, but I know that Klaus Gerger has actually and successfully
done it.

The Austrian dioceses did not allow LDS to film their matrikels.
Practically the only exceptions are the matrikels of Upper Austria from about
1819 as far as they became official holdings of the Oberösterreichische
Landesarchiv in Linz, and the matrikels of military personnel. LDS filmed
the registration records (Meldezettel) of Vienna and Graz, and also the male
birth duplicates of these two cities as far as these were prepared in
duplicate for purposes of the military draft. There is an LDS web site which
gives access to the index of LDS film holdings. I have no web access from my
business laptop, but you find some links to the LDS index at the BB link site
maintained by Anna Kresh. The main LDS web site allows one to navigate to a
list of all LDS Family History Centers.

As for today's Hungary, all the original church matrikels had to be
handed in to the National Archives in Budapest, therefore LDS was permitted
and able to film all of them. For instance, since one line of my ancestors
(the teacher family Fürsatz) had lived in Loipersbach from about 1720 till
1790, I was luckily able to trace their vital record entries of this period
in the films of the parish Agendorf, now Ágfalva in Hungary, which are
available from LDS.